Thought for the Day: Eating wisely can become more than just a diet. It can become our lifestyle! But better yet, we position our hearts to enjoy closeness and fulfillment with God for eternity!

I want to thank you for joining me the last twenty-one days. Our journey to healthy eating started by realizing how Eve, the first woman, gave in to temptation with food. We also read in the Bible how the Israelites, God’s people, struggled with food, which led to them wandering in the desert for forty years. Additionally, we read rich truths in the Psalms and New Testament which gave us a healthier perspective of food and of fullness in Christ.

So, we shouldn’t be surprised when the Bible ends with another pivotal verse about food. For me, this verse might be the one that elicits the greatest excitement in my heart. Revelation 2:7 says:

To him who overcomes, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.

Aren’t you encouraged to see that overcoming is possible? We can be more than just women who hide our struggles or deal with them just enough to survive. This verse in Revelation says “the one who overcomes.” In other words, it confirms that we can find absolute victory in an area where we once knew nothing but defeat.

There’s a reward awaiting those of us who press through our struggles all the way to absolute victory. This reward is crucial, because virtually anyone who overcomes a difficult challenge will tell you that their victory was the sum total of daily sacrificial decisions to reach a goal and the reward. I am thrilled to know that the reward for overcomers in Jesus Christ is that we are given the right to eat … in paradise! Eating from the tree of life with God will be unlike any satisfaction we’ve ever known.

Remember, you were made to crave God, not food. The best reward to healthy eating is experiencing closeness with God. I pray that you continue on this beneficial journey for a lifetime. Eating wisely can become more than just a diet. It can become our lifestyle.

And better yet, we position our hearts to enjoy closeness and fulfillment with God for eternity!

For more information about Lysa TerKeurst and her book Made to Crave, please visit: www.MadetoCrave.org

Thanks so much for the wisdom and truths you poured into us these last three weeks. Your approach was a refreshing change then the extreme dieting approaches others take. As you said, an unhealthy craving for food is much deeper than an annoying habit, for way too many it's a major stronghold, that Jesus longs to set us free from. I pray for you and all who have been following along these past weeks to receive God's freedom and gift of victorious living.

1/31/2011 5:36:53 AM

Pat

My word is "conflict". I want to address conflict in a postive way. Not with anger or hostility. I have a voice that I have been told comes across very harsh, even when I don't mean it. And as long as I have tried to correct it I can't seem to change it. God has done so much in my life that I am praying this is the year that God and I can work on this. Conflict is something that will always be with us but how we handle it can glorify God.

1/31/2011 5:39:00 AM

Rev. Kenny Kesler

Faith, Hope, LoveOn Jan. 21, 2011 I was Ordained as a Minister of the Lord Jesus Christ.

I began my journey for Christ as: Faith, Hope, Love.

My wife and I own a beach wedding business and photography here in North Myrtle Beach, SC and we get to share Christ in our Marriage. Our wedding business we started 7 years ago and have performed over 1000 weddings and God is our Hub in this opportunity that he provided for us.Always and Forever Weddings www.wedonthebeach.com"True Love and Pur Love lasts Always and Forever

This morning I heard Lysa share her comments about a mind switch we need to make in our craving. She shared that we need to realize that when we're craving something other than God we aren't deprived when we don't get that thing, we are over-comers. (I forget her exact wording.) I was convicted that the thing that will leave me deprived is not seeking Him first and craving Him above all others. Thanks for the encouragement this month. It has been a blessing.

1/31/2011 6:37:47 AM

Catherine Pleiman

The more I study nutrition and health, the more I find God. Studying how fruits and vegetables were designed for the human body and how they help with specific things in the body proves to me more and more that not only is Creation is true, but also proves to me that there is a God. And God knows exactly what He’s doing.

Example! Garlic is a natural antibiotic!! So Eric, you should try eating some raw garlic to help fight the sickness! Also, drink lots of orange juice for a natural supply of Vitamin C!!

Get well soon!

1/31/2011 8:25:45 AM

Margo

My word for 2011 is actually two words. "Let Go"-- I need to let go of the walls that I have put up against God. I need to let go of my stresses and anxieties that have caused me to be a bitter person. I need to let go of the people in my life who cause me pain and bring me down. And I need to let go of my self-doubts. God put this word in my heart just a few days after I first allowed myself to hear Him speak to me. I have never experienced such an openness to hear God's response to my prayers- until recently.
I have a foster child who is fetal alcohol and I constantly worry for her. I live with a ball of anxiety for her safety and well-being and how she will mature and grow and live. She is such a happy little girl and my husband and I are so blessed to have her, but I want so badly for her to be "normal." She didn't ask to be a fetal alcohol child, and yet she has to be the one to suffer. A few days ago, God opened my heart and told me that I should not worry for her so. He melted my troubles by letting me know that Emmi is HIS child and she is just perfect, and she is just how HE intended her to be. I should no longer fret over this, but instead I should let go of my fears for her and let God continue to mold Emmi just as she is meant to be. I cried. I cried so hard that I didn't know if I would ever stop. Sometimes I forget that Emmi is not my child- but God's, and I needed that reminder.
So this year, I will let go of my fears and anxieties and let go of the walls in my heart and let God continue to mold my family at HIS will, not mine.

1/31/2011 10:13:07 AM

Celestia Winkler

Hi Margo----
Like you my word for this year is "let go". There are too many things i need to let go of and "let God". I will pray for you and your family.

1/31/2011 1:18:43 PM

Ashlee

I have been doing this for 30 days today. I have lost 20 pounds. I have gained so much, I have a deeper love for God and a craving for His Word that food couldnt even touch. Thanks Lysa, your book spoke to me in the way I needed most. God knew exactly what to have you right so I could crave Him and get out of the funk and bondage I was in.

Be blessedAshlee

2/1/2011 4:16:55 PM

Ruth Chavez-Flores

Hello my word for the year is "HELP"
Help me GOD with my struggles with weight may I learn by the end of the Made to Crave book to crave you as much as I crave food!!!!
Help me GOD with the other struggles I may have my I never forget that all I have to do is pray for Help and it will be there
and finally
Help me GOD get through another blessful year that you will give me

2/1/2011 6:16:27 PM

Sherry

My word is "FREE". I was actually having a pity party on my way to work over how Lisa got her word. I was grumbling to myself and to God. I said "why can't I just hear a word like that?" And then I got the chills, the hairs on my arms and neck stood up, and very clearly I heard the word "FREE". Thank you God. I am reading Made to Crave right now, and now I know I will finally be free from my unhealthy eating habits and $50/wk Starbucks habit. I am learning to trust God to feed my emptiness, and because of that, I am FREE!